psychopathology Flashcards
definitions of abnormality - statistical infrequency
. when individual has less common characteristics, ex. being more depressed/less intelligent than most people
. ex. IQ/intellectual disability disorder
. average IQ is 100 in normal distribution, most people score range of 85-115 (68%), only 2% people score below 70
. people below 70 are seen as abnormal
definitions of abnormality - deviation from social norms
. beh. that’s diff. from accepted standards of beh. in community/society
. group of people choose to define beh. as abnormal on basis that it offends their sense of what the norm is
. norms r specific to culture we live in
. however social norms may be diff. for each generation/culture
. few beh. considered universally abnormal
evaluation - real world application for statistical infrequency
. strength
. usefulness in clinical practice for formal diagnosis and assess severity
. ex. becks depression inventory
. therefore shows value of statistical infrequency criterion, useful in diagnostic/assessment procedures
evaluation - unusual characteristics can be +ve. ; statistical infrequency
. limitation
. infrequent charac. can be +ve as well as -ve
. people don’t think someone is abnormal for having a high IQ or low depression score
. therefore SI can form part of the assessment/diagnostic procedures but never sufficient as sole basis of defining abnormality
evaluation - real world application for deviation from social norms
. strength
. deviation used in clinical practice
. ex charac. of antisocial personality disorder are aggression
. these signs r deviations from social norms
. therefore shows deviation from social norms criterion has value in psychiatry
evaluation - cultural and situation relativism ; deviation from social norms
. limitation
. variation b/w social norms is diff b/w cultures/situs
. pers. fr. one cultural group may label someone from another group as abnormal using their standards than the persons
. even w/n one cultural context social norms differ
. ex. aggression/deceit in family is unacceptable but ok in business
. therefore shows difficult to judge deviation from social norms across diff. situs. and cultures
deviations from abnormality - failure to function adequately
. no longer cope with demands of everyday life
. rosenhan/seligman; proposed additional signs :
. when person no longer conforms to standard interpersonal rules
. when person experiences severe distress
. when persons beh. becomes irrational/danger to themselves/others
definitions of abnormality - deviation from ideal mental health
. jahoda ; suggested we r in good mental health if we fit the criteria :
. no symptoms/distress
. rational/perceive ourselves accurately
. self actualise
. can cope w. stress
. have realistic view of the world
. have good self esteem
. independent of others
. can successfully work, love, enjoy leisure
. inevitably there is an overlap between ideal mental health and failure to function
evaluation - real world application for failure to function
. strength
. represents threshold for when people need professional help
. tends to be at point we cease to function adequately that people seek professional help/referred to by others
. this criterion means treatment/services can be targeted to those who need them most
evaluation - discrimination/social control ; failure to function
limitation
. easy to label non-standard lifestyle choices abnormal
. hard to say if someone failing to function or deviating from social norms
. those who favour high risk leisure may seen as abnormal
. therefore shows people who make unusual choices at risk of being labelled abnormal/freedom of choice limited
evaluation - comprehensive definition; deviating ideal m health
strength
. highly comprehensive
. includes range of criteria distinguishing m. health fr. m. disorder
. individuals health discussed meaningfully w. range of prof.
. shows ideal m. health provides checklist against which we can use ourselves/ discuss psychological issues w. range of professionals
evaluation - culture bound ; deviation from ideal m health
limitation
. diff elements not equally applicable across range of cultures
. some jahodas criteria firmly located in US/europe context
. therefore difficult to apply concept of ideal m health from 1 culture to another
DSM-5 categories of phobia
. characterised by fear/anxiety triggered by object/situ
. fear is out of proportion
. specific phobia ; phobia of object/situ
. social anxiety ; phobia of social situ
. agoraphobia; phobia of being outside/public
behavioural characteristics of phobias
. panic ; may involve lying, screaming, running away
. avoidance ; a lot of effort to prevent coming into contact with phobia, can be hard to go about daily life ie. school/work
. endurance ; person chooses to remain in presence of phobia
emotional characteristics of phobias
. anxiety ; unpleasant state of arousal, prevents relaxing
. fear ; immediate/extremely unpleasant response, shorter than anxiety
. unreasonable ; anxiety/fear greater than ‘normal’, disproportionate
cognitive characteristics of phobias
. selective attention to phobic stimulus ; keep attention on phobia
. irrational beliefs ; person may hold unfounded thoughts in relation to phobic stimuli
. cognitive distortions ; perceptions may be inaccurate/unrealistic
DSM-5 categories of depression
. major depressive disorder ; severe but short term
. persistent depressive disorder ; long term/recurring, including maj. dep.
. disruptive mood dysregulation disorder ; childhood temper tantrums
. premenstrual dysphoric disorder ; disruption to mood with menstrual cycle
behavioural characteristics of depression
. activity levels ; reduced, lethargic/withdraw from school/work, psychomotor agitation : individual struggle to relax
. disruption to eating/sleeping ; insomnia/hypersomnia, appetite increases/decreases wh. may lead to weight gain/weight loss
. aggression/self harm ; verbally/physically aggressive, self harm
emotional characteristics of depression
. lowered mood; daily lethargic/sad, sees themselves as ‘worthless’
. anger ; directed at self/others, can be extreme
. lowered self esteem; self loathe
cognitive characteristics of depression
. poor conc. ; unable to stick to task, interferes w. work
. dwelling on -ve. ; pay attention to -ve events, bias towards unhappy events
. absolutist thinking ; ‘black and white thinking’
behavioural characteristics of ocd
. compulsions are repetitive
. compulsion reduce anxiety
. avoidance ; avoid situs that triggers anxiety/interferes with regular life
emotional characteristics of ocd
. anxiety/distress; unpleasant/overwhelming
. accompanying depression; low mood, lack of enjoyment
. guilt/disgust ; -ve emotions about self/situ
cognitive characteristics of ocd
. obsessive thoughts ; vary from person to person, unpleasant
. cognitive coping strategies; may manage anxiety but distracting
. insight into excessive anxiety ; r aware they r not rational but experience catastrophic thoughts
behavioural approach to explaining phobias - two process model
. mowrer; proposed model based on behavioural approach to phobias
behavioural approach to explaining phobias - acquisition by classical conditioning
. learning to associate something of no fear (NS) with something that triggers fear response
. watson/rayner; ‘little albert’, created phobia in 9 month baby
. had no fear to rat but when experimenters gave albert the rat they made loud noise
. noise = UCS wh. created UCR of fear, when rat and noise set close together NS stimulus became associated with UCS and both produce fear response now
. rat now CS that produces CR
. conditioning generalised to similar objects ie. non-white rabbit
behavioural approach to explaining phobias - maintenance by operant conditioning
. phobias long lasting due to OC
. OC happens when beh. rewarded/punished
. reinforcement increases freq. of beh.
. mowrer; when we avoid phobic stimulus we successfully escape fear/anxiety that we would have experienced if remained
. reduction in fear reinforces avoidance beh. so phobia maintained